ASL Adventures
by skye113
Summary: My idea of what one piece would be like if Sabo "came back to life" earlier, and Ace and Luffy's ages are closer together. Basically, Ace just fought Whitebeard and lost dramatically, so he's sulking. On hiatus as of September 1, 2018. Please check out the rewrite, ASL Reborn.
1. Sulking- Ace on the Moby

Authors note- This is my first ever story, so please go easy on me...  
I'm not sure how often I can update this story and I don't know if I'll just give up on it altogether later on, but I'll try to keep it going.  
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.

"What did Pops see in the brat?" Haruta hissed to Thatch as she passed him. "He's nothing but trouble, and he's still trying to kill Pops!"

"Trust in Oyaji's judgement, Haru. He saw something for sure." Thatch murmured.

The brat was currently sulking in a dark corridor, avoiding the pirates as much as possible.

"Brat-" Thatch approached him.

"What?" Ace turned a baleful eye on him.

"You look like you're about to collapse."

"Maybe I will." He retorted.

"For the last time, I didn't drug the food, so eat!" His temper spilled over.

"Uh, Thatch?" Namur called.

"Yeah?" He asked, calming down a little as he turn to face his fish friend.

"Why are you shouting at a wall?" He asked awkwardly.

"I'm what?" Indeed, when he turned to look, the fire brat was gone. "I was talking to the brat, and he gave me the slip again."

"Ah." Namur nodded wisely. "He does do that very often. No one understands how he manages it."

Ace was still sulking. He preferred to sulk alone, and not be lectured by some random adults. They had no right to do so at all. They had kidnapped him, for Rogers sake, and then declared themselves his brothers and father. What the hell?

Christmas had passed a few days ago, and while the Whitebeards had thrown a huge party, he didn't see why they bothered. Ace had never celebrated Christmas before, and he couldn't see why it was worth celebrating. But then again, they would celebrate anything just for an excuse to get drunk.

It was almost that time of the year again. January first was only two days away, a large part of why he was getting increasingly sullen and hostile. His birthday was nothing important to him either, in fact, he had often wished that he had never been born. He could sense the Whitebeard's patience wearing down, only the Captain and the infuriatingly calm first mate. really never muttered wishes for him to leave. And while they had almost always done it in private, Ace always heard. And he was glad, because eventually they would get tired of him and let him go. That was the hope.

Was it really worth hoping for though?


	2. Curious- Ace on the Moby

"Brat."

Ace looked up to see the said first division commander standing with crossed arms in front of him. "What do you want?" He snapped.

"Thatch has been looking for you, and he said you haven't eaten for at least a day."

Ace huffed. "Please stop acting like you care, because you don't!"

"Yes we do, brat."

Ace fumed. He could never get the Phoenix to lose his temper, and he could get anyone to lose their temper. "Just leave me alone, alright?"

"After you eat."

Ace threw up his hands. "How the hell do you keep on finding me?"

"I'll tell you that as you eat."

"Fine." Ace was starving, really.

A few minutes later…

"How did you manage to coax him here this time?" Thatch asked in disbelief. "I've never managed it, not even once."

"I have to sacrifice the secret of my always knowing where he is."

"Hurry up and tell me!" Ace growled, eating.

"Okay. Have you ever heard of Haki?"

"No." Ace lied, he had of course used and heard if armament Haki before, as well as observation, but what did that have to do with anything?

"Well, you've used it already." Seeing the expression on the teen's face he chuckled, causing Ace's scowl to deepen. "There are three types. You've managed to use two. Armament Haki is something you use to reinforce and be able to take enemies down with only your bare hands, it's like a very strong second skin. You used it once in your first fight with Pops, I definitely saw it. It works against logia devil fruit users, too forcing them into a solid state. Observation Haki is when you can sense the next moves of your opponent, along with the relative strength of an opponent based on their aura. If you manage to progress it to that level, you can sense the emotions of a person as well. It's how I find you, as everyone feels different. "

Ace nodded, for once not wearing a scowl. So that was what it was. Well, couldn't Uncle have spent an extra three minutes explaining to him then?

"And the last is called Conquers Haki, it's basically forcing your will upon others and making them go unconscious. People who have foaming mouths usually have been hit by it. You used it, too. And it's really rare. Only around one in a million people have it, and yours, by what I've seen, can perhaps eventually become on par with Red Haired Shanks. I think you unlocked both because of situations of extreme danger."

"Amazing vigor and drive, to the fullest." Ace muttered. "He lied!" He looked furious.

"What?"

"He told me it was a mystery power." Ace pouted. "And I believed him! Like I was Luffy! I can't believe Uncle never told me this stuff!"

"What?"

"Whatever. So how do I use it?"

Marco believed that Ace most likely had no control whatsoever over his Haki. "Training. That, and patience."

Ace groaned. "Seriously?" He had great control over his observation and armament, only he had thought he could only use it at swordplay. Conquerors, though, was a mystery.

"Everything takes time."

"Wait. You said that I unlocked them because of situations of extreme danger right?" Ace rubbed his hands together. "So just I need to be in an extremely dangerous situation!"

"Wait. That's not how it works, you've unlocked it, but you need to train it."

"Could you possibly…" Ace's voice trailed off as he realized what's he had been about to say, and his face hardened. His mask snapped back into place. "Whatever." He left quickly.

"Well?" Thatch walked in. "How did it go?"

"We've made progress. But there's still a long way to go."


	3. Wistful- Ace on the Moby

**New Chapter!**

 **I promise that Luffy and Sabo will pop up soon, so hold your horses.**

 **Thank you to CelinaB, DireGrim and YJV for your reviews!**

Chapter 3

The next day, Ace was nowhere to be found. Even Macro couldn't find him. "I'm sorry, but he's probably hiding somewhere where's there's a lot of people, and Haki can only do so much."

Ace realized that he had that level of observation Haki Marco mentioned, since he always could sense the hostile emotions of people around him. On this ship, however, most were just curious or amused at the antics of a child. He decided that he was going to master Conqueror's Haki, and by himself.

The day of his birthday was gloomy and dark. Ace was in a fouler mood than usual, and he knew that the bad weather was a sign, even the clouds agreed he should never had been born.

He remembered a few years back, when Sabo and Luffy had told him that he should celebrate his birthday, that he wasn't worthless, that they were grateful he was born.

But now they weren't which him, and he started hating his birthday all over again.

The pirates were celebrating again, for New Years. Thought it was only just nine in the morning, most were already drunk and stumbling around making fools of themselves.

Ace tried to avoid the drinking pirates as much as possible, but he did grab a glass and slid away to a quiet part of the deck. He nursed his drink and for the first time in a long while, thought of Sabo, his dead brother who had come back to life a few years earlier, when he had popped out of nowhere back into his life and suddenly announced that he was alive and had joined the revolutionaries, no less, and his littlest brother, Luffy, who was always cheerful, always happy.

Thatch noticed the brat grab a drink and slip away, he grabbed Marco along as he followed the brat.

They both noticed that the brat had a bittersweet smile on his face, then one that turned genuinely happy. His eyes held a glassy, faraway look. They watched as he downed the glass in one gulp, then placed the glass down gently.

Ace noticed that the curiosity and the anxiety nearby was growing by the minute, and though the drink had dulled his senses, he wasn't anywhere near drunk yet. He shot to his feet in a second and glared daggers at the shadows, for that was where he sensed the emotions to be coming from. "You were spying on me?" He shrieked.

"You're not suppose to be drinking, you know." Marco emerged. "Did you develop your Haki in secret? It was very quick."

"Yes, brat, while alcohol is life, you're way too young for it." Thatch agreed.

"I'm seventeen." No, Ace realized. He was eighteen now, had been eighteen for exactly nine hours now.

"Drinking age is eighteen, at least, brat."

"I'm a pirates. I don't follow the law. Besides, I think I'm old enough." Ace retorted. There was no way he was going to tell them it was his birthday today.

"He's got a point, Marco." Thatch nodded approvingly. "If we followed all of the marine's stupid rules, there would be no more meaning in life!"

"He's gone again." Marco told him.

Thatch turned a disbelieving stare at the empty space were he had been, the only sign that the brat had been there was the empty glass left behind. "How does he keep on doing that?"

"I don't know, either." Marco admitted.

Ace snatched another drink and slunk away again, this time under the shadow of the mast. He was pondering what Marco and said about observation Haki. He had used it to find him by his emotions or his aura, so either he had to have no emotions, which was not possible, or he had to somehow conceal his aura. He'd already realized that if he stayed in a crowded place the Phoenix couldn't find him, but he liked silence sometimes, wanted to be away from the chatter and the laughter and the stares. Finishing his drink, he slipped below deck, to his other hiding spots. The Phoenix was hunting him again.

 **Please review, and thank you for reading up to this point!**


	4. Reuinted- ASL on the Moby

**Sorry for the short chapters, but I have a lot of hw and whatnot all the time... sigh.**

 **Thanks to anyone who reviewed.**

 **As promised before, Sabo and Luffy are appearing in this chapter.**

 **Chapter 4**

Marco was hunting for Ace again. He could barely just sense him, the brat had gotten good very fast. How he managed to unlock observation Haki and figure out how to conceal his aura by himself so quickly was beyond him, he was definitely full of surprises. He had asked all those who knew Haki on board, not a single one had been approached by the brat for help.

Pops had definitely picked another interesting one.

He was crossing a relatively empty part of the deck when suddenly he was knocked backwards, and when he got up, he saw smoke all over where he had been before. Pirates were crowded around immediately, chattering about what had happened. Marco got up in annoyance, what was it now? When the smoke had cleared, the pirates saw what had arrived, two brats laughing together.

"The floor!" Fossa cried in dismay. There were two huge paw prints embedded in the deck of the ship.

"Oh. My apologies, I didn't expect him to do that… again." The brat with the Top Hat exclaimed immediately. "It's Adam wood, right? Well at least it wasn't as deep or pronounced as last time."

What the hell? Marco thought.

"What are two random brats doing on our ship?" A pirates muttered causing a bunch of whispering to start up again.

The Top Hat brat started looking around for something, his eyes fell on their flag. "Well, Luffy, it seems that we've reached the Whitebeard pirates!"

His companion, the one with a straw hat, grinned.

"You are the Whitebeard Pirates, right?" He asked anxiously.

"Yes." Thatch said.

"I'm really sorry about the floor," Top Hat looked sheepish. "But we had to get here quick and Kuma offered…"

"I'm Luffy!" Straw hat exclaimed excitedly.

"Rules mean I can't tell you my name…" Top Hat shrugged. "I'm fine with anything that's not brat…"

"So why exactly are you on our ship?" Marco asked.

"Oh, yes. Is Portgas D. Ace on your ship?"

"Why do you care?" Haruta chimed in.

"We're looking for him. Do tell me he is on this ship, or we'll be very late." Top hat looked anxious.

"He is." Thatch nodded.

"Good." Top Hat looked relieved. "Hey, Lu, why don't you try and find him?"

Luffy scrunched up his brow. "Ummm… There?" He pointed. All eyes followed the direction he pointed to.

Ace had slipped back in deck for another drink, he had found himself suddenly liking the stuff. Lots of pirates were crowded on deck, drawing his curiosity, so he abandoned his glass and crept forward for a better view.

What he did not expect was for every face to turn towards him suddenly, or for a warm, rubbery body go suddenly rocket into him.

Uh… What? Was he hallucinating? What was Luffy doing on a place like this?

He reacted instinctively. "Seriously, Luffy, don't just rocket into random places!" He scolded as they both nearly missed falling into the ocean. "We both could've drowned, you know?"

Thatch's eyeballs were falling out. The straw hat imp, self proclaimed as Luffy, had rocketed himself into the moody brat, who he expected to lash out with his fire. He felt sorry for the brat, Ace did not hold back on his devil fruit. However, Ace didn't do any such thing, instead, after manipulating himself in midair to make sure he crashed into the railings instead of the imp, had got up and started scolding the brat while Top Hat looked on amusedly.

"Ace, do stop fawning over Luffy, I'm sure he's fine." Sabo interrupted.

"Hi, Sabo." Ace smiled. He stood and pulled Luffy up with him. "It's been a long time. Wait, what are you two doing here?"

Sabo walked over to him. "Don't you remember what I told you? I can't tell anyone my name and you just went and blurted it out to anyone with ears!"

Ace shot him a baleful look. "Like Luffy wouldn't eventually."

"Well, fine." He smiled. "Happy birthday, Ace."

There was a moment of stunned silence, which Luffy broke by hugging Ace again and saying, "Happy birthday, Ace!"

 **And... Done again. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review.**


	5. Surprises- ASL on the Moby

**Hi everybody. New chapter again!**

 **Apologies for the short chapters, also, sadly, I will not be able to post as often as I am now. Maybe once a week? its much more difficult that i imagined, I'm also have a better appreciation for all you writers out there.**

 **Also, I am considering a potential future story about ASL being forced by Garp to join the marines, if you are interested, please inform me.**

 **I feel that my greatest weakness as a writer is my lack of ideas, so if you have any suggestions for me, I will be more than happy to consider writing it...**

 **Also to the person who asked... Sabo does have a devil fruit, and it will come up a little later, but I won't reveal exactly what it is for awhile. Any guesses? Luffy still has his Gomu-Gomu No mi, Ace still has his Mera-Mera No Mi.**

 **Thank you for reading and reviewing, without further ado...**

* * *

Chapter 5

Marco processed what had happened. First, two brats and popped out of nowhere, apologized for their deck, which now had two huge paw prints, then claimed to be looking for Ace. Then, they had found him easily, easier than he had ever done, and then started to talk. Ace had smiled, which he had never been seen doing before. And then they suddenly proclaimed that it was the brat's birthday, which he had not told anyone.

He realized that Ace had realized it too when he told him that drinking age was eighteen, and instead of correcting his statement that he was seventeen, he merely had replied that he thought he was old enough, because he was.

"Anyway, Ace, here's our Vivre Cards, don't lose them, because if you did, I will track you down and murder you. I know you'll have a hard time telling them apart, so I wrote an S on mine, and a L on Lu's, in blue and yellow for good measure. I'll tell you about the specifics later, but basically, if you place them on you palm, they'll go in whatever direction we're in." Sabo had wasted no time getting to the point, and demonstrated with Luffy's Card. "You need to make one too, you know."

"Okay."

"They cost a fortune." Sabo smirked evilly.

"I'm broke though!" Ace protested.

"I'm sure I can lend you some money at 300% interest."

"Sabo's starting to sound like Nami." Luffy grinned. "Here, Ace!" He shoved a hat into his arms.

Ace grabbed it.

"Luffy always had his straw hat, and now that I have my own hat-"

"It looks ridiculous on you." Ace teased.

"-Luffy thought you might want a hat of your own, or you'll be the odd one out." Sabo didn't really to his taunt.

"Thanks, Lu." Ace smiled again, unwrapping an orange cowboy hat. "It's perfect."

"Your sword, too, you forgot it. Uncle was pissed about that." Sabo handed him a sword.

"Thanks. I did forget."

"It's a shame Vegapunk works for the marines, he's a real genius, but I managed to get a few items out of him." Sabo handed him a square case the size of a briefcase. "I'll explain what it can do later, and you can test it out, too. Could we talk in private, though? I have some pretty important things to tell you."

"Sure." They both disappeared somewhere, leaving Luffy behind with the pirates.

"Don't tell them everything!" He told Luffy as they left.

* * *

 **And finished...**

 **Again, sorry it is so short. Have a nice weekend, and please review (in english... if possible)**


	6. Secrets- ASL on the Moby

**Hello! New chapter again, I took the weekend off! I'll be including a hint to Sabo's devil fruit in this chapter, guess what it is!**

 **I just though that I'd elaborate since I didn't before, Luffy set sail only a year after Ace did, and Luffy is having his 2 years of training right now before entering the New World, while Ace just met Whitebeard, but Sabo's already the Chief of Staff on the Revolutionary Army. So that's the timeline, Luffy is already extremely powerful.**

 **Disclaimer- I own nothing but this story.**

* * *

Chapter 6

"Uhh. So, who are you?" Thatch asked Luffy awkwardly.

"We're Ace's brothers!" Luffy's smiled stretched his face to impossible proportions.

The brat had brothers? Marco raised an unbelieving eyebrow. How many more surprises were going to be revealed today?

"You have a devil fruit, right?" Haruta had immediately noticed when Ace had said that they would both drown, so it wasn't too much to assume that he had a devil fruit as well.

"Yep!" Luffy grabbed his cheeks and pulled.

The pirates were shocked when they stretched.

"I ate the Gomu-Gomu No Mi, and I became a rubber man!" He cheered.

"Rubber?" One pirate whispered.

"That's a lame power." Another said.

"Ace says that too." Luffy didn't look the least bit sad, however. "I think it's cool!"

"But what could you possibly do with it?" Someone asked.

"Do you want me to show you?" Luffy asked eagerly, like a little kid.

"No they don't." Sabo said, both of them appearing back on deck. "Trust me, if he does, you'll be shipless, Adam wood or not."

"Rubber isn't a lame power." Ace defended. "It's just lamer than mine."

"Wow." Sabo clapped. "I can't believe you just said that."

"He couldn't possibly destroy the ship," Thatch said. "That's crazy."

"Would you like to test that theory with so many devil fruit users onboard and land nowhere in sight?" Sabo raised an eyebrow. "He can demonstrate later, there's an abandoned island around two hours straight ahead. It's the closest, but most of you wouldn't make it if the ship sunk." Sabo yawned. "Ace, Luffy and I would make it, though."

"How?" Haruta asked, mystified. "Ace and Luffy both have devil fruits."

"True. Ace do you want to test it out now?"

"Sure!" Ace cheered. He grabbed the box and started fiddling around with it.

"It's the yellow button, Ace."

"I forgot."

"Wait. So you remember everything I told you right? Take it slowly, and if you get lost follow my Vivre Card back, if you hit a storm hit the red button, please don't fall into the ocean… You know what, I'm coming with you."

"What?" Ace squawked in outrage. "I want to go alone!"

"You'll probably drown as soon as you leave the ship." Sabo grumbled, but he relented. "Fine, but if you drown, I will personally murder you."

"Okay, okay! Bye Sabo!" Ace pressed the yellow bottom and the box transformed into a two man craft.

"How is that even possible?" Izou muttered. "The box was a box that was less than a tenth of the size of that thing!"

"That's the genius of Vegapunk for you!" Sabo smirked. "I designed it."

Ace dropped the boat overboard, then followed it. "How does it work again?" He murmured to himself. "Oh, yes, set my shoes on fire." He summoned fire at his feet, and the boat roared to life, and disappeared in a blink.

"Oh dear." Sabo sighed. "I'll go after him and make sure he doesn't die." He casually dropped overboard.

"Okay…" Thatch rubbed his eyes. "So am I asleep, or hallucinating right now?"

"How will Sabo catch up to Ace?" Namur asked in concern.

"Sabo has a devil fruit!" Luffy smiled. "It's very cool."

…

"Wait, what?!" Jozu cried.

"Did I just hear that correctly?" Vista queried.

"Why are you all so upset?" Luffy asked in confusion.

"Devil fruit users drown when they come in contact with water, Luffy." Namur said.

"Yeah."

"Sabo is a devil fruit user." Thatch continued.

"Yeah."

"So he'll drown?" Haruta concluded.

"No he won't." Luffy said. "Sabo won't drown, he can't."

"It's really nice of you all to be so concerned." Sabo emerged from the ocean, but had not a single drop of water on him. "But I am not so stupid as to just jump into the ocean knowing that I'd drown."

"What's your devil fruit?" Thatch asked.

"Guess."

"Water." Someone called out hopefully.

"Nope."

Everyone was stumped for a moment. Luffy giggled.

"Zoan type, an aquatic animal." Jozu tried.

"Nope. I doubt that kind of thing exists."

No one had any more answers.

* * *

 **And done again! Hope you enjoyed, please review!**


	7. Departure- ASL on the Moby

**Hi, I'm back.**

 **As you will see in this chapter, Luffy is already pretty powerful, but still really oblivious. That's really all I have to say...**

 **Enjoy, and please review!**

* * *

"Hah. You're all stumped. Look, there's Ace."

Ace appeared on board, the mini ship back in its box. "Sabo, teach me fishman karate."

"So suddenly?" Sabo asked. "You know you can't go into the water, right?"

"Oh, right. Then teach me how not to drown, so if I'm stranded at sea, I won't drown."

"Are you okay? How have you begun to use your brain?"

"Sabo!"

"Okay, okay. Have you ever heard of CP9?"

"No."

"Figures. CP9, or Cipher Pol 9 is a secret assassination and information gathering group working for the marines. The have the right to kill any person, actually, any citizen who is hindering their mission, which is something no other group has the right to do, not that it stops them. Their members have to train to fully master this martial artsm, called Rokushiki before they become full members, Luffy fought them and won, he learned some stuff, shitty gramps sent a manual for his birthday for the rest. I'll teach you Geppo, since it's probably the most useful in your situation. Can you demonstrate, Lu?"

Luffy grinned. "Geppo." And he started to fly.

"Geppo is basically something that allows you to fly, in simple terms. How long you can fly depends on how much you practice, it's very useful. Oh, it's called 'moonwalk,' by the way."

"Uh huh." Ace nodded.

They drifted away to talk.

* * *

"We've reached the island." Marco said to the trio, who were still talking.

It was a medium size island, with a sandy beach and a dense forest.

"Luffy, do you want to demonstrate the power of your devil fruit?"

"Okay!" Luffy cheered. "What should I do?"

"Whatever you'd like." Sabo smiled indulgently.

"Gear Third!" Luffy said.

"Oh well. There goes the forest." Sabo smirked. "You prepared to eat your words, Mr. Fourth?"

Luffy suddenly blew his arm to a huge size and with one blow, knocked down half of the forest. "Oops." He exclaimed, sheepishly scratching his head. "I didn't mean to do that." He turned very very tiny.

All of the jaws of the Whitebeard Pirates thudded to the floor, while Thatch's eyeballs stretched out of their sockets.

"I'll never underestimate rubber again." Jozu shook his head in amazement.

"So are you glad that I stopped his demonstration?" Sabo asked, tilting back his head.

"Since when did our _baby_ brother be able to do that?! When I left, he was still working on aiming properly and not hitting himself in the face. And why is he now the size he was when he was four?!"

"Don't worry, he'll turn back soon."

At his words Luffy grew. "Ah! Yes, finally, I'm back."

"As for your other questions… A devil fruit rarely makes a person weaker, and the power of a devil fruit depends only on the person's creativity and practice." Sabo began a lecture. "Take Doflamingo, for example. His devil fruit isn't really powerful, he can only manipulate strings, but the way he uses it and his complete mastery over his fruit makes him deadly. And while someone might have a powerful logia devil fruit, if he is overconfident, and unfortunately meets a Haki user or seastone for whatever, he still can be defeated."

"Why do I have a feeling you're talking about me…" Ace said glumly.

"Because I am."

"Why does it have to be a he? Can't it be a she?" Haruta commented.

"Suit yourself." Sabo shrugged.

Thatch opened his mouth to ask a question.

Purururu… Sabo sighed. "Please, no, I only just got this vacation!" With a long sigh, he answered the call. "Yes, Hack?"

"Do I sound like Hack to you?" A female voice asked.

"Koala, what is it now? I'm kind of busy."

"Sorry, but there's new orders from the top."

"And…"

"He promises that you'll be unbothered for the rest of your time."

"He promised that when I left!" Sabo groaned.

"You're the closest."

"Okay, tell me."

"Go to Mystoria Island-"

"I'll go, tell me the details later, I'll call you back." Sabo glared at the den den for a moment. "Sorry, Ace, but you know how it gets…" His voice trailed off. I'll be gone for a day, two tops."

"Sabo has to leave?" Luffy asked.

"Yes." Ace told him.

"Here's an eternal pose to Alabasta, if you want to leave before I return, you can be a fresh start there, just mention Luffy and you should be good. Don't take Lu with you, I'll find him."

"I'll be fine, you're starting to act like a mother hen, Sabo!" Ace grumbled.

"One last thing, Ace. In case you forgot, we're grateful that you were born, you know?"

And he was gone.

"Of all things for him to say… Come on, Lu." Ace stomped off.

"What the heck was that?" Vista asked Haruta as he walked in, half shoved aside by a murderous-looking Ace.

"Someone called Sabo and he left."

"So it's back to killing Oyaji?" Vista frowned.

"Yeah, I guess."

But Ace didn't make another assassination attempt on Whitebeard, instead, he was seen kicking the unfortunate crewman on watch off the crows nest and claiming the spot with his little brother. Occasionally, they could hear parts of what was being said by hyper teen, who talked too fast for them to understand, really.

"And I have a talking reindeer on my crew, too! He's called Tony-Tony Chopper, and Sanji calls him an emergency food supply, you know. And he calls Zoro Moss-Head, too! And he favors the girls, and gives them snacks all the time, but he complains when I ask for food, so when I'm hungry I have to raid the food supply, but when he finds out he gets mad and sometimes kicks me overboard, but my crewmates always save me from drowning!"

Ace always responded cheerfully, and none of the moody brat was seen.

* * *

 **That's it for this time, thank you for reading!**


	8. Suspicion- ASL on the Moby

**Hi, everyone, I managed to write another chapter so yay! I hope you'll all like it, the chapters are still short... :(**

 **Thank you for viewing and for reviewing!**

 **I do not own anything but this story.**

* * *

Chapter 8

Sabo arrived back on the ship in the wee hours of the morning, when only the Phoenix was awake, as well as those on watch.

"Hey, Phoenix." Sabo approached the first division commander silently. He got past the ones on watch easily.

"You're back."

"Yes. You've made awfully good progress with Ace, by the way. He's nowhere as mean as he was before. He didn't leave, which means that he actually cares, even if he wouldn't admit it to anyone, including himself."

"Really, yoi." Marco kept his bored, sleepy expression on his face, but it was obvious he was skeptical.

"He was way worse before, Lu helped him a lot." Sabo leaned on his pipe.

"And…"

"He's opening up. I don't know what you've done to make him as such… But I'm warning you. If you hurt him, I will hunt you down."

"Nakamaship is the most important thing to us." Marco replied seriously.

"My brothers are the most important to me." Sabo inclined his head. "Ace spent a long time trying to kill Lu when he first tried to be his friend, you know. It took me years to haggle out his birthday from him." He started walking away, intent on searching for his brothers.

Marco pondered his words. Even worse than now? Why would he turn so bitter and untrusting at only eighteen? What had happened to him?

* * *

Later in the day, he started picking up random snatches of gossip as he walked around the ship attempting to locate the brothers.

"The moody brat's so cheerful now…"

"The straw hat eats so much…"

"Not a single assassination attempt…"

"I heard the top hat is a marine…"

"I heard they're here to spy…"

"Keep away from them…"

Marco finally found the three next to Oyaji. The straw hat was sitting on the arm of Whitebeard's huge throne, listening in wonder at one of his many adventures.

Ace was standing nearby, glaring at anyone who got too close to him. He was obviously keeping a careful eye on his brother.

Sabo was standing in the shadows, and most people didn't seem to notice him. He seemed also to be observing his brothers.

Was it possible he was a marine? Marco wondered. He himself found it unlikely.

Nearby, a bunch of commanders were also keeping a careful eye on their father and the three brats. Marco walked over.

"What's all this, yoi?"

"Haven't you heard, Marco?" Thatch whispered. "The top hat is a marine, he might be here to kill Pops!"

"Uh… So?"

"So we're keeping an eye on him in case." Izou shrugged.

"I doubt he's an Absolute Justice marine, seeing how he acts." Jozu added doubtfully. "But in case, anyway.

"You really think that a marine seventeen years old could kill Pops?" Marco's eyebrow twitched. "I mean, I know pops isn't getting younger, but this is extreme."

"We never saw him fight…" Thatch said. "And you've seen how abnormally strong Ace is, for his age. Who knows, Sabo might be even stronger. Better safe than sorry, right?"

"I have an idea. Thatch, you go up and challenge him and see how good he is." Haruta ordered.

"Why me?" Thatch scowled.

"Because it was you who dragged all of us here?" Haruta reasoned.

"But me?"

"You're the least suspicious."

"Fine."

Thatch walked over to the top hat and the commanders watched rather tensely as he asked.

Sabo laughed. "You should try with Ace, it isn't often that he gets to fight a fellow swordsman, plus, he's out of practice."

"Um…"

"Ace!" Sabo called loudly, not heeding his feeble protests. "Thatch offered to help you figure out exactly how you are now with your sword!"

Ace's eyes flicked to him, then to Luffy. "Sure." He replied after a moment, shocking the pirates.

"How did he get roped into that?" Haruta muttered. "i knew we shouldn't have let the idiot go."

* * *

 **That's the chapter, hope you enjoyed reading!**


	9. Discoveries- ASL on the Moby

**Hi everyone!**

 **What's up? New chapter, finally. Read, and enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 9

There was an area cleared for them to fight now, and the commanders walked over to it. Sabo was talking to Ace, Thatch was glaring at them in annoyance and Haruta was accepting bets already. Whitebeard and Luffy were also paying attention, looking on in interest.

Ace held his sword as he would a club that was ten times too heavy for him, his posture slouched but tense. If they had been on land, the tip of his sword would have been buried deep into the earth.

"Does he even know how to use a sword?" Vista muttered, looking scandalized at his stance.

Thatch was similarity confused. Did the brat know how to use a sword at all?

"Do go easy on him, Thatch. Ace hasn't practiced in a long time." Sabo said.

"Sabo, stop worrying so much!" Ace grumbled.

"So are you both ready?" Haruta asked, finishing up the last of the bets.

"I'd bet on Ace if I had any money right now…" Sabo smirked. He walked off the fighting area.

Ace looked at the bets, they were significantly one sided. Only two people had bet on him, one being Sabo and the other Luffy. His pride was wounded. Badly. Very badly. He was going to have to prove a point. His eyebrow twitched slightly as his shoulders began smoking. "Where did you get the money?" He asked Sabo, sounding very annoyed.

"Stole it." Sabo shrugged.

"Took it." Luffy shrugged, mirroring Sabo.

"Wait, what?" Haruta shrieked. "From us?"

"Just joking, chill." Sabo smirked. "I did bring some money with me."

"So can we begin?" Thatch asked, ready for a fight lasting a total of two seconds.

"Sure, why not." Ace shrugged. He switched his grip, and held his sword awkwardly, in his left hand.

"First to get the other unable to continue wins. Be careful about it, Thatch." Haruta warned.

Ace grumbled, "I'm not that bad."

"Ready? Begin!" Haruta ignored him.

Sabo felt his smirk widen drastically, turning slightly evil. They weren't expecting Ace to be any good with his sword at all, were they?

Thatch made the first move, drawing both swords and slashing down quickly, hoping that he'd get it over with.

To his surprise, Ace's grip on his sword changed ever so slightly a moment before he was about to make contact, and now he held it as a natural extension of his arm. His eyes narrowed. Flicking his wrist, he caught both swords in his one and yawned, brushing back the hair that had fallen into his face with his spare hand. He appeared to be simply relaxing, not showing any effort on stopping the swords on his part.

"I guess I didn't forget it after all." He crowed in delight.

Everyone but the two brothers were stunned, though Whitebeard simply laughed and took another drink from his barrel-size cup of sake, and Marco's sleepy expression didn't change. Luffy cheered.

Thatch started again, with another move, but Ace always caught it whatever he did. Thatch got frustrated to the point of using armament Haki, which he knew was kind of cheating since the brat wasn't experienced in Haki. Or so he thought.

To his utter surprise, Ace smirked and replied in kind.

He decided finally that enough was enough, and he disarmed Thatch in a swift move and in a heartbeat, had the sharp end of his blade on his throat as Thatch's swords clattered noisily to the floor. "Done."

"Ha. Wasn't expecting that, right?" Sabo smiled. "It seems you haven't forgotten everything Uncle taught us, though you forgot most."

Ace's shoulders slumped. "Back to basics?"

"Lu can do them with you."

"Okay, okay." Ace pouted cutely. "Can you at least give me the money to make my Vivre card?"

"Reminds me. Only Lu and I bet on you, right?"

The pirates turned horror stricken faces towards their money.

"Don't worry, I'm not taking it." Sabo reassured them. "Since the money I bet was stolen anyway."

"Didn't you say you had some on you?" Izou asked suspiciously.

"Sabo likes challenges, I expect that he expected you to realize." Ace confirmed.

Luffy giggled again.

"It was a good battle." Ace smiled at Thatch. "It's been a long while since I fought, you know. Back to basics, again." He groaned.

"Be grateful we're not asking you do baby basics." Sabo smiled evilly.

Ace's face changed into an expression of absolute horror. "NO!"

The next day, he was seen grumbling as he and his youngest brother did the basic drills together.

"They call that basics?" Jozu asked incredulously. "Armament reinforcement and blindfolds?"

"One would imagine that basics that even more difficult than anything else." Jiru glanced at them.

"That's what our Uncle taught us." Luffy popped next to him, Ace right besides him. Sabo appeared next to them.

"Who is your Uncle?"

"Uncle Hawky!" Luffy cheered.

"A sadist." Ace added.

"The best." Sabo said, mysteriously.

"So who is he?" The pirates were unable to figure out who exactly it could be.

"A warlord." Sabo offered.

"A Shichibukai." Ace agreed.

"He's grumpy most of the time." Luffy added.

"Mihawk?" Thatch asked in amazement, after using the process of elimination to figure out who he could possibly be. No wonder the brat had defeated him so easily, if he was trained by the greatest swordsman in the world!

"Yep. Back to drills, Ace." The three ran off.

"How did they get Mihawk to be their Uncle?" Vista asked.

"They're probably capable of making the sun dance in circles and talking their way out of Impel Down." Someone commented.

Everyone was left pondering the question and silently agreeing to the statement.

* * *

 **That's all for this time, thank you for reading and please review!**


	10. Trust- ASL on the Moby

**Hi, I'm having some annoying problems with my computer recently, can anyone help? I can't open this website on google anymore, it's blocked, what do I do? I'm stuck using Microsoft Edge, but now that can't open it either.**

 **It's really annoying.**

 **Here's the chapter, though.**

* * *

Chapter 10

A few days later, in the afternoon…

The three brats had been talking to Marco and Thatch, and suddenly, Sabo stood up and with a face full of confusion.

"Sabo?" Luffy asked as he extended his Haki.

"Isn't that the fishman?" Ace asked, recognizing the aura.

"Yes." Sabo said shortly.

There was a geyser of water that almost landed on the deck, and a Fishman appeared panting heavily on deck. "Chief-" Seeing the company, he cut himself off. "Boss wants you back at base!" He gasped.

"Hack!" Sabo asked in concern. "What happened? Why didn't you call?"

"Our den dens are believed to be compromised, base is under attack, Boss wants everyone back."

"Damn it." Sabo cursed. "I have to go, Ace, Lu. How bad is it?" He asked Hack as he went to collect his gear. "I'll try to be back soon!" He called at Ace and Luffy. "Damn marines." He muttered under his breath, too light for anyone to hear.

He jumped overboard with the Fishman and they left, waves forming in their wake.

"Come on, Lu, let's do some more basics." Ace stood and said it as if nothing had happened."

"Uh… What happened?"

"Sabo's work keeps him very busy." Ace clarified. "This happens all the time."

"Yep." Luffy said. "And he always comes back soon. If he doesn't, we'll go after him."

"Right. So nothing to worry about." Ace shot them a look that said to shut it, then he shot a concerned glance at Luffy.

"Your brother's a marine?" Haruta blurted out.

"What?!" Ace looked at her in a weird way.

"So is he here to spy?" Another pressed.

Aces shoulders started to flicker slightly with fire. "How dare you accuse him of being a marine!" He shouted.

"But he probably is!" Someone shouted back.

"No he isn't!" Luffy join in. "Marines are stupid!"

"Then what is he?"

"We don't see the need to inform you." Ace shot out.

"Then he must be a marine! Or a government agent!" Haruta argued. "So he can't come back!"

"Yeah!" Lots of pirates agreed.

Ace seemed to shrink slightly. "Then we'll leave." He said quietly. "Let's find our Uncle or something, Lu."

"Wait, Ace!" Marco cut in, appearing on deck just in time to hear Haruta's hasty declaration, but he was too late to stop them from leaving.

Ace shoved him aside, grabbed his briefcase and turned it into the boat he nicknamed Striker. "It's been good. Thanks for everything." With his face drawn, he boarded the ship and beckoned at Luffy, who followed him silently.

Ace summoned fire at his feet and the Striker roared to life and was gone in an instant.

"What are we going to tell Oyaji?" Thatch muttered.

"The truth." Marco marched to his Captain's room.

The entire ship was somber after what had happened. Unknowingly, the three brats had crept into everyone's hearts, had become their family. And now that they were gone, they felt the silence sorely.

"I miss them." Haruta admitted to Marco. "And I shouldn't have been so hasty."

"Everyone is at fault. Not just you, Haru."

The next morning, Sabo arrived to a completely silent ship, looking like he hadn't slept a minute the past night and had hurried back as quickly as possible. "Where's Ace and Luffy?" He demanded when he arrived not seeing or sensing either.

Most of the pirates looked away guiltily.

"They left." Jozu muttered shortly.

"Are you a marine?" Haruta asked.

"That's why they left?"

"If you are, you won't be welcome here."

"Ah." Sabo said, nodding his understanding. "That's why they left, right? Ace dragged Luffy away, probably."

"Yes."

"Ace is very stubborn, you know. He refused to tell you exactly what I chose my career to be, right? No, I am not a marine." Sabo denied. "That was my fault, I had him sworn to secrecy."

"Then what are you?" Haruta questioned.

"If I said I was a son of Roger, what would you say?" Sabo folded his arms and awaited her response.

The pirates exchanged startled glances.

"No one cares who your parents are."

"And what if they were celestial dragons?" He pursued.

"Then we'd have to look at the son." Haruta answered.

Sabo smiled. "And if you were looking at me, or Ace or Lu?"

"Get to the point."

"I'm not a marine. Like I would ever be one." Sabo snorted in disdain. "I'm part of the Revolutionary Army."

There was a pregnant pause.

Sabo had not worried about the info getting out as only the commanders were on deck. Besides, would the Marines really believe the word of notorious pirates? He found it unlikely. And besides, the marines had already gotten wind of his new position. So there was no problem there.

"What?" Thatch gasped, reacting a little late.

"Interesting."

"Chief?" Jozu questioned, thinking back to the fishman's words. "Of intelligence?"

"No… Good try, though."

"Then what?"

"Of arms? Someone else offered halfheartedly.

Sabo shook his head.

"The Revolutionary Army finally got a Chief of Staff, didn't they?" Haruta asked questioningly. Though she didn't really think he could be the second in command of the bunch of powerful, but in her opinion slightly wacko people under Dragon, Ace was abnormal. So his brother could possibly, too.

"At your service." Sabo bowed slightly, shocking many pirates.

"You're a son of the World Nobles?" Marco guessed. Why else would he asked those questions? He didn't look anything like Roger...

"Maybe."

"I am too!" Thatch waved excitedly. "Let's share stories!"

Sabo was slightly startled at him warm response. "So you aren't going to hate me?"

"We told you we'd look at the kid, right?" Haruta murmured.

"Yeah." Sabo adjusted his hat. "Sorry, I need to chase down the two idiots. Feel free to follow me."

* * *

 **That is all, please help, if you can...**


	11. Confusion- ASL on the Moby

**I really don't know what to do anymore, I posted this from a library since my computer hates me a lot! I'm using .net now, but I don't think you can post chapters from there! Can you? It will be a while before I can post again, sorry.**

 **But enough of that... Here's the chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 11

"You sure this is were Sabo went?" Marco asked.

"Yes." The crewman nodded.

"That's the Red Force." Thatch said.

"We all have eyes to see for ourselves." Haruta snapped. "Sorry, just a bit snappish today." She muttered.

"Don't worry about it, Haru." Thatch patted her head affectionately.

"Should we approach them?" The crewman asked.

"Yes." Whitebeard commanded.

"This is a surprise, Whitebeard. Since when did you start contacting us?"

Benn Beckman was lounging on deck, his guns clearly visible, smoking a cigarette. Marco could also see other members of Red Hair's crew on deck, Lucky Roo, Yasopp, and more. All of them looked at them unwelcomingly, and all we acting extremely hostile.

"We want to talk to Red Hair." Marco broke a tense silence.

"Captain's busy right now." Benn rebutted. "Come back later."

"We'll wait." Marco decided after a quick glance to his Pops.

"It'll be a while."

* * *

It was an insult really, for them to be kept waiting for a whole hour before Red Hair deigned to meet them, seeing their longtime relationship.

"What do you want." He snapped as soon as he came out of his cabin.

"To speak." Whitebeard rumbled.

"About what?" Shanks was particularly impatient today.

"The three brats."

"What brats?" Shanks asked distractedly. He glanced back at his cabin often, not paying full attention to Whitebeard.

"I'd rather you not pretend." Whitebeard continued, undeterred by his unfriendly and distracted manner.

"Very well. What about the three brats?"

"We would like to speak with them."

"No." He refused immediately.

"Why."

"They won't speak to you if they don't want to." Shanks replied.

"So they're hiding behind your coattails?" Izou challenged.

"I don't mind." He half smiled.

Whitebeard was just opening his mouth when a member of Shank's crew ran up urgently. "Captain!"

"Yes?"

"We've got another visitor."

"And?"

"It's Garp."

Shanks turned abruptly. "Who?"

"Garp the Fist, the marine hero." The crew member repeated.

Shanks looked ready to freak out, much to the confusion of the Whitebeards, when Benn stood and put an arm of his captain's shoulder. Wordlessly, he turned towards the cabin after making sure that his captain wasn't going to have a meltdown.

"Dammit, it's shitty gramps!" Ace grumbled in annoyance as he emerged from the cabin. He ignored the Whitebeards stubbornly.

"He does have the worst timing. We're lucky he didn't come looking for us earlier." Sabo agreed. He shot a small smile at the Whitebeards discreetly.

The marine hero thundered aboard the Red Force, zooming in on the three brats.

"You were supposed to become strong marines!" He raged. "Not pirates! Fist of Love!"

He was blocked by a murderous looking Shanks.

"I always said I wanted to a pirate, you shitty old man!" Ace shouted back. "Leave us alone!"

"I don't want to be a stupid marine," Luffy grumbled. "I told you I'm going to be the Pirate King, grandpa!" He flashed a trademark D smile.

"You can't expect me to serve the corrupted men who almost killed me, right?" Sabo asked quietly.

"Didn't you die?" Garp asked in confusion. Dadan had filled him in on the explosions and what they had done. He had been furious, but he could do nothing against the World Nobles.

"Almost." Sabo adjusted his hat.

"Garp, what do you think you're doing on my ship!" Shanks grumbled.

"Seeing my adorable grandsons, of course." Garp replied.

Ace mimed gagging.

"I think they've made it pretty clear that they don't want to see you."

"Who are you to stop me?" Garp puffed out his chest.

"Their uncle."

There was a moment of silence.

Garp didn't seem to be surprised at all. "They got another uncle? You're the…" Garp started counting on his fingers.

"Seventh, I think." He finished ten minutes later. "Welcome to the family!" He beamed.

"They had seven uncles?"

"What kind of crazy family is that?"

"When did you get six other uncles?" Shanks asked curiously. He'd thought he was the third, at most, only knowing Mihawk and Jimbei.

"Well, there's Uncle Hawky, Kuzan, Borsalino…" Sabo began.

"Hammock and Jimbi!" Luffy grinned.

"He mean Aunt Hancock, who's sees herself as Lu's future wife, you know, even though she's probably twice his age, and Uncle Jimbei."

"Who's the last?"

"Hmmm..." Sabo considered.

"Does Sengoku count?" Ace offered.

"Nope." Sabo said. "Cuz he said he'll still capture us anyway."

"Lu's dad." Ace tried.

"Well, technically, he'll be kind of like our… Well, kind of like an uncle, I suppose. But he's my boss, Ace. It would be weird!" Sabo raised a questioning eyebrow.. "Who's the last?"

"Ray-san and Shakky!" Luffy said enthusiastically.

"Okay." Sabo and Ace agreed together.

"So make Shanks the eighth, then, Uncle Rayleigh the sixth and Aunt Shakky the seventh. That's about it, right?" Sabo looked at his brothers for confirmation. "And that's our family. Not counting brothers, parents, grandparents, annoying people that we hate," Sabo shot a look at Garp, "and people who we'll not mention right now because if we did, we'll be here till tomorrow, and everyone will get a heart attack." Sabo finished.

"That's about it." Ace agreed.

"That's a super crazy family…" Someone muttered. "In fact, crazy is too mild a word for it…"

"How did they manage to convince all those people…"

"Told you they could make the sun dance in the sky and talk their way out of Impel Down." One pirate said, very smugly.

Silently, most agreed wholeheartedly.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading!**


	12. Shock- Ace on the Moby

**Sorry for the late update! I only just had time to go to the library today... My computer is still not cooperating.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 12

"Wait. If they see Jimbei as their uncle, and Jimbei sees us as his brothers and pops as his father, then doesn't that mean that pops is technically your grandfather and we are all your uncles/aunts?" Haruta questioned.

"We don't count extended families, because then we be related to everyone who's related to our aunts and uncles and brothers and other random people, and before long, we'll have a grand total of half of the population of the world as our family." Sabo smirked. "And there are more than a few not so savory people on our planet. And besides, you're much too young. We aren't _that_ much younger than you."

"We have enough family as it is." Ace muttered. "And we stay as far from some as possible. Like a certain idiot who likes entering a scene by crashing through a wall because it looks cool."

Garp frowned as he considered his words. It couldn't possibly be him, could it? Of course not! He was their loving grandfather, after all.

Everyone else, however, knew instantly who he was talking about, and more than a few turned incredulous looks at the famous marine hero.

"I'm leaving then, brats. If you get captured I'm not bailing you out." Still oblivious, Garp jumped back onto his ship and the marine ship left.

"Excuse us, we're expected somewhere else right now, sorry, Uncle." Sabo broke a silence. "And after that, we'll go visit Uncle Jimbei, I think, and perhaps check on Lu's crew… Ace, I had a ton of paperwork right now, so you'll take the easy half, and I'll take the official half."

"What?" Ace squawked in protest. "Again!"

"I'm practically drowning here, Ace. Unless you'd rather stay with shitty gramps?"

"You can't drown." Ace retorted. "And besides, shitty gramps is gone."

"I can call him back."

"I'll stay with our Uncle." Ace retorted immediately. The last thing he wanted was to be stuck with Garp, of all people.

"Not an option."

"Why not?" Ace whined.

"Because I said so."

"But I hate paperwork."

"So do I." Sabo agreed.

"Lu's so lucky."

"He can't do paperwork, he just doesn't get it."

"I don't either!"

"You can either come with us, or stay with them." Sabo pointed at the Moby.

Ace considered the options for a split second. "I'll come with you." He decided immediately.

Sabo raised an eyebrow. "You sure?"

"Yes."

"Not reconsidering?"

"The hell, Sabo?"

"Seriously."

"No!"

"So you can help me do all of my paperwork, then!" Sabo clapped his hands together.

"What?!"

"Well, since you're so insistent on staying, you should pull your weight."

"Sabo!"

"Ace, after another year, Lu's going to officially enter the 'New World,' with his crew, and I'll be stuck with my things, as you know. So unless you want to become a revolutionary, which is not happening, you'll have to find somewhere to stay, right? Your crew's assimilated already, unless you want to start over again, all the way from the beginning, or you might want to stay with a relative, but don't make the decision too hastily, alright?"

Ace complemented his words carefully. "Fine." He said grudgingly.

"You're still doing that paperwork, you know."

Ace swung his sword at Sabo, who blocked playfully with his pipe. "You'll have to do better than that, ni-chan!"

"Only Lu gets to call me that!" Ace scowled.

"New times call for new traditions!" Sabo rebutted cheerfully.

"I'm going to be stuck with doing this the entire time we're together right?"

"Yep!"

"You're rarely on vacation, you sure you want to waste your time doing this?"

""You've finally began taking notes on manipulation!" Sabo clapped half mockingly, half teasingly. "Congratulations!"

"Sabo!"

"Ace!" Sabo mimicked his tone.

Ace opened his mouth again, but suddenly pitched face first into the floor.

"You should take him when he's asleep." Sabo advised. "And be prepared for flames when he wakes."

"Sabo?" Shanks asked.

"It's fine." He replied. "Tell him that he promised to _try_ and think it through." Sabo tilted his hat to them before grabbing Luffy and flying away on a giant raven.

"Well, I guess I'm not stopping you either, then. Don't let him at you with his sword. He's creepier then Mihawk with his flames." Shanks advised before turning back to his own crew. "Let's go on vacation somewhere, in Paradise maybe…"

Marco grabbed the fiery-tempered brat and lugged him back on their own ship. He confiscated his briefcase after a look at Pops, as well as his sword.

* * *

When Ace awoke twenty minutes later, he was pissed as hell.

His annoyance turned to outright shock and murderous rage when he realized that he had no sword or Striker, and he was on the freaking Whitebeard's flagship, again. So he did the only rational thing he could, he burst into flames. He was in the room they had given him before, all alone. Forcing himself to calm done, he reminded himself that he could steal back those items any day, and he also had some control over Geppo, however difficult it was.

There was still something on him they hadn't taken though. He pulled out the band curiously and locked it in his arm before covering it with his sleeve. He was thinking of plans to escape and wasn't paying attention...

Wait a second… What was it again… Ace's eyes widened as he started feeling tired, and cold (!), didn't Sabo say something about seastone? Oh, what had he done!

Well, it was as good a time as any to start building resistance on it, Ace attempted to reassure himself and failing miserably. Soon he felt a huge wave of fatigue, immediately regretting putting it on.

When Thatch came to check on him ten minutes later, he found the brat still asleep. He tiptoed out quietly. "Still sleeping." He whispered to Marco.

"I wouldn't count on it for long." Marco replied.

Ace finally dragged himself up as he bemoaned the fact that he hadn't ever used or heard of seastone before. It was easily #1 on the top ten stupidest things Portgas D. Ace had ever done in his short eighteen years old life.

He staggered out of the room and when to one of his hiding places before curling up to sleep again.

Seastone was a real killer. Of course, since Sabo had told him to build resistance, he would, and this was a wonderful opportunity, but gods, it was annoying to be so tired. If he had known what it was… He wouldn't have gotten within a mile of the stuff. He'll just sleep for another day or two. Yep, that sounded about right.

* * *

 **And that's this chapter! Hope you enjoyed, please leave a review!**


	13. Queer- Ace on the Moby

**Author's note: Hi! I'm back, sorry for the long wait. Here's the chapter, read, enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 13

"Thatch, don't you think it's too quiet?" Marco asked.

"Don't worry, Ace has a horrible temper, we'll figure out he's awake the moment he wakes." Thatch said.

"Let's go check in him again, it's been twenty minutes, right?"

"Okay, okay." Thatch sounded annoyed.

…

"Didn't you say we'd know the moment he was awake?" Marco still had that sleepy, calm look on his face, but he sounded murderous.

"I figured he would burn the ship down." Thatch shrugged casually. He wasn't all that panicked, Ace had to be on the ship somewhere. It was only a matter of where he was, and he's show up soon. Hopefully soon.

"So… Where is he?"

"He's definitely on the ship somewhere…" Thatch started walking away. "I have to get back to my cookies, or they'll burn. And i bet the newbies you assigned to my kitchen are destroying everything." He fled before Marco could come to his senses and burn his hair, throw him overboard, or worse, make him _bald!_

Marco stared at his leaving back, then at the empty room. His brain crashed temporarily, too many things were happening at the moment.

When Ace finally woke up again, he was still tired. "Stupid seastone." Ace grumbled. The key was one of the things they had taken from him, they had practically taken everything but his hat and his clothes, and how they had missed the seastone was a mystery. Given time, he could probably pick the lock, but that would defeat the entire purpose. And he lacked the equipment to do so, anyway.

He got to his feet, neither as quickly nor as smoothly as before. He extended his Haki, no one was nearby. Fatigue hit him hard again.

He had to figure out where his stuff was, but he was still being dragged down by the seastone. He staggered his way back to the room before collapsing back in his bed. They would find him no matter what, so why not enjoy what he could? "I'll just sleep another few days, then…" Again… Was his last thought before falling into yet another deep sleep.

And that was how Marco found him, sleeping like the dead.

Marco rubbed his eyes before looking again. "What?" He muttered, mostly to himself. Of all places for Ace to be, he chose to return to this room?

Although seastone made him sluggish, Ace still possessed his remarkable instincts. He shot up and was on his feet in a second, coming face to face with the first mate. He took one look at Marco and raised an eyebrow. Then he went back to his bed and began sleeping again.

Marco was totally confused. Though, of course, he wouldn't have admitted it to anyone. His sleepy expression didn't change, his half-lidded eyes still looking bored and sleepy. However, his brain was in deep thought. Ace had taken one look at him, then went back to sleep. There was definitely something fishy going on here… There had been no sign of his cute usual shrieks of indignation or vigorous arm waving.

No screaming. Or temper. Or intent on killing him.

At all.

There was a big red glowing sign in his brain flashing WARNING now.

So… what was it?

"Ace?"

"Go away!" Ace moaned, sounding like he was dying. "Leave me alone."

"Uh… Are you sick?" Marco was still confused.

"Nope, I'm fine." Ace mumbled into his pillow. "Bye."

"Ace, you should get up."

"No thanks…"

"What's wrong with you? No flames? No 'I'm going to kill you for kidnapping me'?"

"Later… Marco, either give me my stuff back or leave!" Ace yawned and forced his eyes to squint at the man. "And hurry up about it."

"What's to say you won't chop the ship in half and ride away on Striker?" Marco regretted his words after it had left his mouth, he hadn't wanted to accuse the brat at all, though it might be what it sounded like.

Ace didn't seem to notice. "I'm not at that level yet, this is Adam Wood, isn't it?" Ace sat up with immense difficulty. "And you could just not give me the Striker."

"I'll ask pops." Marco left the room.

Ace rubbed his eyes. He couldn't sleep all the time… or maybe he could.

"Wait, what?" Thatch asked in disbelief. "No flames, no aggression, no killer instinct, no nothing? Not even breaking some glass or something?"

"Nope. There was no breakable object in his room anyway." Marco blinked. "He looked really tired."

"Oh! I'll go see him, he's probably just feeling the aftereffects of his narcolepsy attack." Thatch said confidently.

"Try not to get fried." Marco said dubiously before going back to his cabin to polish up some more paperwork. He changed course abruptly, he did say promise to ask pops if the brat could get his stuff back.

"So much for a vote of confidence." Thatch mumbled into his shoes.

"Ace, are you alright?" Thatch asked.

"Mhmmm." Ace replied, sitting up.

"Did you hit your head?"

"No." He yawned.

"Are you sure you're not sick?"

"Why are you all asking that question?" The brat looked genuinely oblivious and confused.

"You look horrible." Thatch started, taking in the brat's face. "You've made no attempt to kill anyone."

"Hey! I'm not that bad." Ace interrupted sleepily.

"There's been no sign of your flames. You haven't tried to steal back your things, and you're sleeping." Thatch finished.

"So?" Ace yawned again. "I'll just take a little nap…" He fell back into the bed.

Thatch walked inside and was about to grab the brat's arm to lug him to the infirmary when his eyes snapped open and he moved aside, out of his span of reach. "Thatch, what the hell!"

"You're obviously sick, Ace, I'm taking you to the infirmary." Thatch explained, holding up his arms in surrender.

"Seriously, I'm not sick! And don't touch me." Ace softened a little. "I'm just tired because of my narcolepsy." He lied. It was a pretty convenient excuse at times.

"Narcolepsy is just one attack, not three or four in a row." Thatch folded his arms, trying to sound like he knew what he was saying. "There's definitely something wrong with you, tell me what it is!"

"Give me back my stuff, first. And leave it here." He then slipped past the cook and darted away.

Thatch ran to the hallway, but he was already gone. He sighed before turning to go back to the kitchen when he almost bumped straight into Marco. "Marco? Did you see Ace on your way here?"

"No."

"He ran off, after I tried to take him to Bay."

"I don't blame him." Marco had an armful of Ace's things. "Pops said we could give him back everything but his ship." He maneuvered his way around Thatch and dumped it all on the bed.

"And if he starts chopping?"

"I don't think he will." Marco said. "We should leave, he obviously won't return until he knows we're gone."

* * *

 **And… That's it! Do you like it? Comments? I'm dying to know!**


	14. Betrayal- Ace on the Moby

**Hi, peoples! This is the new chapter…**

 **I wish I had more time to update, sorry…**

 **Enjoy!**

Chapter 14

When Ace returned after snatching some food from the pantry, he found most of his things on his bed. He hurriedly searched through it for the key, but couldn't find it.

"Oh, please, please, _please_ don't tell me I left it on Striker when I turned it back!" Ace groaned. He was relieved to have his sword back, and the den den. He dialed a number Sabo had drilled into his brain and waited.

"Yes, Hack, or Koala?" He heard his brother's voice ask.

"I'm going to _kill_ you when I get my hands on you."

"Did you steal back your things, Ace?"

"No." He admitted. "But they aren't giving me back Striker and I accidentally used that stupid seastone and the key I believe is still on Striker." And I have no idea where it is!

Sabo laughed. "I do have an extra, since I figured something like this would happen… but I'm too busy right now… It'll be a couple of weeks before I can visit."

"Sabo!" Ace cried. "This thing is horrible!"

"Hah! I felt like that too when I first used it. Give it a couple of years and it will be fine." He said airily, and in Ace's opinion, through what he could see on the mushi, quite smugly. "Unless you want me to mail it and it accidentally gets lost?"

"I don't have a couple of years! Fact remains that you're dead when I get my hands on you. Where's Luffy?"

"With Uncle Rayleigh." Sabo replied. "Chill, Ace, after a few days it'll get better. Or you could try and pick the lock."

"Yeah, yeah, fine." Ace said unenthusiastically. Of course, it was convenient to Sabo that he was the one specialized in that kind of stuff.

"Or…" Sabo sighed inwardly. " _They_ could probably help you get it off…" He braced himself for the inevitable backlash.

"No."

"Being stubborn isn't always the smartest thing, Ace."

"You left me with them!"

"Admit it, you like it there, and don't tell me any crap about being _his_ son, because they don't care, and won't care. And to tell the truth, I think you're happy there, and that's the important thing. Sorry, I have a ton of work left to do, don't call today again unless there's an emergency."

"This is the emergency." Ace grumbled, but Sabo had already went back to his work and he was left talking to a sleeping snail.

Ace glared at the snail, then placed it carefully on the bed.

Wait… How did Sabo know they don't care, and won't care? He had a sinking feeling of dread in his chest, snatched up the snail and dialed furiously again.

"What the big emergency, then?"

"You told them I was _his_ son?!"

"I implied it. I didn't say for sure." Sabo replied evenly. Sabo silently cursed the fact that the one time he'd rather Ace didn't connect the dots was the only time he did manage to come to the correct conclusion.

"How could you!"

"You see? The fact that you care means that-" Sabo explained desperately.

"Sabo, I could count the number of people who know who my father is on my hands! And the only reason gramps knows is because _he_ told him! And for all the others, and for you, I told you because I trusted you! It's my secret, Sabo, and I don't want you to tell anyone without telling that you will! My decisions are mine! I don't want you to manipulate me into making decisions you think are good for me. Some things are private, Sabo. I kept your secrets safe, and you blurt mine out to everyone. This is my life, not yours!" Ace finished, and didn't give his brother the chance to reply.

He hung up on him, feeling the sharp sting of a betrayal.

"Uh… Ace?" Thatch peered in, sounding awkward and confused. "Are you alright?"

"How much did you hear?"

"Just the last sentence?" He said it with uncertainty, like it was a question.

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Leave me alone!" Ace shouted. "You kidnapped me again! Don't act like you care!"

"Ace-" Thatch started, "you-"

"Get the %$#^ OUT!" He bellowed.

Thatch scurried away quickly, closing the door behind him.

* * *

"He definitely is fine, started screaming at me." Thatch reported to Marco a few minutes later. Though he would never admit it, he had gone straight to what he felt to be the safest person on the ship, except for pops, who was currently in the infirmary and Bay had warned them very very expressively that under no circumstances were they to be bothered. "I think I dropped in on a bad time, though."

"And what did he say?"

"You kidnapped me again, leave me alone…"

"The usual, yoi?"

"Yeah. I think he was talking to someone, he was holding his den den, all I heard was 'this is my life, not yours,' before he hung up."

"He's fine, then." Marco sighed. "Who could it be?" He muttered to himself.

"But…" Thatch got his attention again.

"What?"

"He's still strangely subdued."

"That's a good thing. Less chance of him burning the ship down, yoi."

"He's in a really bad mood. Like bad bad, when he first realized that we kidnapped him."

"Let's hope he doesn't go right back to attempting to kill pops yoi."

* * *

Ace was fuming. If he hadn't had that seastone on, he would have most likely burnt down at least half, if not more of the ship by now. He stalked out of the room they provided still full of white-hot rage. He needed to get Striker back. Or get the seastone off, somehow.

He didn't realize that he didn't feel tired at all, anymore.

* * *

"Uh, Ace, you're up?" Curiel asked as he passed, slightly awkward. The brat didn't even glance his way, seeming too focused on whatever he was thinking about to even register his presence. Strange, the commander though before mentally shrugging and walking on deck to take his shift for watch.

 **To be continued!**

 **Do you like it? Questions, comments, suggestions? Thank you for reading!**


	15. Regret- Ace on the Moby

**Hi everyone! I know it's been a looooong time since I last updated this fanfic, I'm sorry! (Really). However I will be taking a very long vacation so I decided to just post a big chapter, so here it is, chapter 15! Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 15

"Anyone seen Ace?" Thatch demanded worriedly a while later, knowing that the brat had missed lunch and was most likely quite hungry.

"Me." Curiel raised his hand. "Half an hour ago, seemed to be thinking about something, didn't notice me, didn't look too happy either."

"At first, when he woke, I thought he would be pleasant to deal with… I guess he's back to his old 'I'm going to kill you all' self." Thatch sighed.

"He was pleasant when he woke up?" Jozu asked in outright astonishment. "I have a hard time imagining Ace being pleasant for anything."

"Anything?"

"Well, except maybe with his brothers." Jozu amended.

"Not pleasant, maybe, but he didn't try to burn the ship down and didn't go ranting at me or anything."

"Interesting." Vista mused. "And now he's back to normal."

"Let's hope that doesn't mean back to trying to assassinate pops, again." Namur intervened.

"He wasn't that bad, really."

"Not for you, but I'm the one who has to fix the railings every time he crashes into them." Fossa grumbled.

Jozu and Curiel nodded in agreement.

"Held some entertainment value."

* * *

A few yards away, Ace froze as he unintentionally overheard their conversation. That was all he was worth, wasn't it? Just some entertainment?! That was all he was to them. Ace shook his head violently. No, of course not. They'd come after him. Ace knew that he cared.

Ace knew that if that was all he was worth in their eyes, his heart would shatter like glass. And he knew that somehow, they had gotten inside of his heart, passing those iron barriers, like Luffy and Sabo had. He wanted to trust them. But… That didn't negate the fact that they'd kidnapped him. _Again!_

And Sabo had helped them!

He stomped away, not having a specific place in mind, and he bumped straight into Izou.

"Ace! Watch where you're going!" The cross dresser scolded. He vaguely sensed something was wrong with the boy, but couldn't quite identify it.

"Sorry." Ace mumbled with a scowl on his face. He continued stomping away. Izou stared after him in amazement for half a minute.

* * *

"What did you do to Ace?" Izou asked Thatch the moment he saw him.

"I didn't do anything!" Thatch said in confusion. "What's wrong with Ace?"

"He seems weird. But he apologized to me! For bumping into me! And didn't try to kill me or anything!" Izou said.

"Ace is acting very strange." Haruta said conclusively. "First, he wakes up and doesn't burn anything, acts quite polite, then he starts screaming, now he's apologizing?"

"Be grateful he's not back to trying to kill pops." Curiel said. "I had to fix the doors and walls every single time he broke them!"

There was a crash.

"And you were saying?" Haruta asked. "He's right back to assassinating pops."

"It might have been something else." Izou rationalized hopefully. "We'll have to go and check."

* * *

"I told you he's back to trying to kill pops." Haruta frowned after the disappearing form of their stubborn brother-to-be. "But he is strange, don't you think?"

"There's nothing strange about it." Jozu said dismissively. "It was a lot hoping he wouldn't continue his habit, well, this was only the seventy time he tried. In a row." He bemoaned the destruction of the wall that he had just patched up a few days ago.

"But Jozu-chan, there's something else, I think!" Haruta concentrated on here memories of Ace when he got back. They had been fleeting, he had acted cold and distant, per usual. She couldn't for the life of her grasp what it was that she wanted to say.

* * *

"So what happened, yoi?" Marco asked Haruta who had come to him for a person to talk to.

"Ace is back to trying to kill Oyaji, and _no one_ cares!" Haruta folded her arms crossly.

"Wait, tell me the whole story." Marco pushed away his paperwork, paying full attention to his younger sister. He was immensely grateful that he had an excuse to turn away from that unending sea of papers.

"Apparently Ace asked pops for his boat back and pops refused because, duh," Haruta rolled her eyes in a very childish manner, "-who wouldn't, right, and he got mad and tried to kill pops again."

"And?" Marco raised an eyebrow.

"You! You're just like the others! You don't care!"

"Whoa, Haruta. Calm down. Of course, I care, but what's bothering you yoi?"

"I don't know. But he seems strange, and… It's weird!"

"What's weird?"

"Ace! I don't know!" Haruta looked frustrated.

Marco took pity on her. "We'll figure it out, but meanwhile… I heard Thatch made some fudge…"

"Yes! I need chocolate right now… Must revive my brain..." Haruta stood up, suddenly cheerful. "Thanks, Marco-chan!" She skipped out the door merrily.

Marco stared after her and thought about what she said. Ace was acting extraordinarily strange.

Haruta was one of the ones who absolutely despised the brat for trying to kill their father, and for her to think something was off about him…

He resolved to think about this new problem later, he still had a lot of paperwork to do. Not for the first time, he cursed the existence of the never ending pile of paperwork.

Once Ace joins them, Marco decides, he's going to ask him to 'accidentally' burn all the paperwork on the damn ship.

* * *

Ace got up gingerly from the most recent place he crashed into, no, the most recent place that impossibly strong captain had flung him into. He glared at the wall, which was in splinters, then glared at the people gathered around the wreckage.

At least this time he was tossed into the damn ocean, he mused sourly. He stomped away from the mess and headed to his room, his agility had been severely decreased and his strength diminished drastically, how was he going to defeat the giant anyway?

A few minutes later, safely enclosed in his room, Ace began considering his situation glumly. In all honesty, he hadn't even been close to defeating the giant with his fruit powers, and now that he lost it, as well as the seastone decreasing his strength, his chances were… Ace cut off that line of thought. In theory, once he got the seastone off- if ever-, his Brain supplied happily.

Shut it! He growled at his brain.

-It's true…- Brain said.

Don't want to hear it! Ace snapped.

-And Sabo won't come for at least three weeks, so he said…- Brain taunted.

Ace was tempted to smash his head against the wall. But once I get it off, I'll be much stronger. He thought.

-You'll have to get it off first.- Logic said.

-You see? Even Logic agrees with me!- Brain cheered. -Which mean I'm right!-

-Stop the petty arguing and feed me already!- Stomach growled angrily.

-Maybe you should just give up… They'll be able to get the cuff off.- Heart said. -And you do like being with them. -

Why the hell is my own body rebelling against me? Ace wondered despairingly.

Brain, Logic, Stomach, and Heart all sighed at him.

-Duh, we want what's best for you since you are us.- Brain seemed to fold his imaginary arms in a Sabo-like way.

-Whitebeard isn't going to take no for an answer.- Logic added.

-I don't care what you do as long as you feed me, and soon!- Stomach let out another impatient growl.

-Leave him alone, guys. Can't you see he's under a lot of pressure right now?- Heart scolded.

-Hey, hey, hey! Are you telling him to just give up? Don't listen to them! You can't give up!- Ambition popped out of nowhere.

-Be logical.- Logic reasoned.

-He should give up!- Heart said heatedly. -He wants to be one of them, obviously.-

-No! It's your dream, you know!-

Brain and Heart began fighting with Ambition, Logic was trying to seperate them and Stomach was rumbling in annoyance.

I must be hallucinating. Ace thought. Arguing against myself?

He managed to reach his bed and crashed on it, feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders.

What should I choose? He wondered despairingly. My dreams, everything I put stake on since I set sail, or my heart?

He had no answer for himself.

* * *

With Sabo-

He stared at the mushi in what you could say to be a mix of remorse and determination. Remorse in the fact that Ace had sounded so panicked and so upset, because despite everything he had been through, he hadn't ever faced this kind of betrayal, not once. But Sabo also knew that this might have been his first time, but certainly not the last. And Ace was just being paranoid, was simply too stubborn and overcome with that wild desire to rid himself of that father of his…

It was for his own good….

Perhaps it hadn't been his best idea….

If only Ace would only stop being so bull-headed for a moment….

If only Ace didn't truly care about the pirates as much as he did, no matter how often he tried to deny it….

If only Ace was so stubborn and had more sense than a three year old….

Sabo knew there were quite a lot of if-only's he could consider when it came to his brother, well, specifically the one that was extraordinarily stupid and stubborn and self-loathing, who probably had flames in place of his brains.

The trouble magnet, on the other hand, was a totally different story. Sabo wondered exactly how he managed to survive this long with both of them being their usual, "normal" selves.

With one last (regretful/resolute) look at the mushi, he placed it to the side. Ace was definitely in no mood to chat right now, but he would come around. Eventually.

…

Sabo sighed heavily before he turned back to his paperwork and began idly skimming over Koala's recent report on the mission to one of the islands they had helped ignite a revolution in.

Ace would be fine, he reassured himself. He's on one of the safest places in the world, with some of the strongest people in the world.

But he still felt an inkling of worry. Knowing the idiot, he'd keep the seastone a secret as long as possible, and _they didn't know_. So they would assume that he was his usual invulnerable self and…

Sabo cut off his line of thought and refocused on paperwork. When I finish everything, he decided, I'll go find him, throttle him for being so stubborn, and then make sure to clearly hammer it into his nonexistent brain cells that noooooo, seastone was not a toy.

With an amused smile and a shake of his head, he began writing a report.

Stay out of trouble for a few weeks, Ace.

It's just a few weeks.

...

A few weeks suddenly seemed too long.

* * *

Marco hadn't seen hide or hair of the fire brat in days, except when he tried to kill his adoptive father, and though he had been very busy with work, now he was beginning to feel that something was off.

And Ace was also the reason for a pounding headache.

"Marco!" His most annoying brother whined. "Ace hasn't come to the dining hall for days and days and days!"

"He never did, you know." Marco sighed as he signed another report.

"But Marco! I haven't seen him either, and what if he's starving to death?" Thatch sobbed childishly.

Make that the most annoying and dramatic brother. Even Haruta couldn't beat him in that.

Like the good older brother he was, Marco sat through Thatch's rambling without complaint. He suppressed an urge to bash his head against the wall when Thatch finally finished his speech, which was something that sound like-

"...and he probably hates me right now, Marco, what am I going to do… can't you find him for me, because if he starves to death, his ghost will probably come back to haunt me!" At this, Thatch turned very pale. "... what if he's not even on the ship anymore! He could have accidentally drowned, or got eaten by a sea king, or got captured by Kaidou, or the marines- he could be Impel Down by now! And he might have crashed one of Big Mom's tea parties, and he could have been _eaten_ by a Sea King!" His ramblings, in Marco's opinion, grew increasingly stupid.

"Thatch." Marco said when he was finally stopping to catch his breath. "We just saw Ace ten minutes ago when he tried to use Curiel's hammer to attack pops. There is no way he is even _close_ to Impel Down, or any of the other Yonko right now. And Ace would just fry the Sea King and eat it, yoi."

After convincing a frantic Thatch to go back to his kitchen, Marco sighed deeply, again. Ace better make up his mind soon, and stop being the cause of half of his paperwork!

The ship was being tossed around the huge waves being caused by the equally huge gales of a ferocious New World storm.

"Pull the sail in!" Jozu shouted to a couple of division members hanging on to the rigging for their lives. "It's no use!"

The crew scrambled to comply, but it did little except stopping half of them from hanging on to it so it wouldn't be torn away.

"Whew! Some storm, isn't it, Marco?" Thatch was back to his cheerful (but still annoying) self.

Marco wiped some water out of his eyes. "It did pick some time to hit yoi," he grumbled. "I mean, I had just finished my paperwork-" He glared at Thatch, "-which reminds me, I also had to do _your_ paperwork."

Thatch laughed nervously. "Well, I was on the verge of a depression attack, and wouldn't the kitchens be a mess if for whatever reason, you suddenly decide to main me?"

"Can't you pick another time to squabble over your petty issues?" Izou scolded as he half walked half skidded past them. "We're still in danger of the ship capsizing, in case you haven't noticed."

Just then, a wave washed aboard the Moby, soaking Thatch to the skin, Marco only barely avoiding it after his phoenix instincts warned him to duck.

They both turned back to work, Thatch bemoaning the fact that a bit of his precious hair was wet, while Marco started overseeing the navigation group that was trying unsuccessfully to steer the ship out of the storm.

"We're simply too close to the Calm Belt right now," one navigator reported apologetically to Marco. "If we simply try and wing it there is a big possibility we'll sail right into a sea king mating den, and Pops hasn't been feeling the best lately, and-"

"I get it." Marco cut him off. "Do what you can, we can outlast a storm or two if we need to yoi."

The navigators turned back to their work.

As he was turning around to go help Jozu, Marco caught sight of a figure at the helm, alone. _What idiot stands at the helm when there's a huge storm and everyone else is trying to make sure we aren't sinking?_

Intrigued, he made his way over, almost tripping more than once. And he noticed two things: the aforementioned idiot was Portgas D. Ace, and his eyes were glazed over, signaling he might have spaced out and seemed to be two inches away from falling into the ocean, and being a devil fruit user, certain death.

* * *

"Now isn't the best time to daydream, yoi."

Ace snapped back to reality, "Marco?" He asked. "Did something happen?"

Marco stared at him for a second, wondering if Ace was simply deranged or was joking. "Well, we're in a huge storm, even by New World standards, and we might very well run the risk of sinking yoi."

"That's it?"

"What do you mean, that's it yoi?" Marco raised an eyebrow. "You were in the New World or less than two months with your crew, how did you even survive?"

Ace shrugged. "Fight fire with fire and all that."

Marco was silent for a minute.

Ace noticed Marco's silence. "Basically just turn the storm against itself?"

Silence.

"Sabo used to use Fishman Karate to combat the waves, and me an' Lu would see who could make the bigger difference with the wind. It was good practice." He sighed.

"So you would create wind to stop the winds from reaching your ship yoi?" Marco asked suspiciously.

"Hmm." Ace nodded. "That sounds like how Sabo explained it."

"With your devil fruits?"

"Nope." Ace said. "How does that work?" He asked, sounding actually curious.

"Then how did you do it, yoi?" Marco ignored his question.

Ace tapped the sword strapped to his waist.

"Hey, hey, Marco, in case you didn't notice, we're still in some deep shit here!" Thatch whined. "How come you get to sit and talk while I have to risk ruining my hair?"

"Stop the dramatics, Thatch." Marco said. "Ace, do you think I'd be able to do that yoi?"

"In your Phoneix form…" Ace's voice trailed off as he thought. "Maybe, I guess."

"Maybe about what?" Haruta popped up.

"Is this some glorified group that has no care that we're _that_ close to sinking?" Izou asked as he, too, slided over, while shooting a annoyed look at his expensive kimono which was soaked.

"Hush." Marco said, very uncharacteristically. "You three," he gestured towards Thatch, Haruta and Izou, "-get back to work while we figure out a possible solution to this."

Grumbling, they did as he asked.

"So, Ace yoi, care to demonstrate?" Marco asked, almost lazily.

"Give me a second." Ace squinted to look at the horizon. He drew his sword and made a sweep, creating a wind that momentarily cut through the bellowing wind and unrelenting rain. There was a moment of peace.

The crew on deck steering the ship froze in astonishment that the storm suddenly seemed to stop… Until it started again, catching many off guard.

Ace sheathed his sword with a click. "It's just blunt force, really. This ship is much bigger than mine, so you have to be careful not to accidentally hit the mast…"

"So that's what you were discussing?" Haruta asked, coming over again. "Hey, if you could make another wind or something and give us a boost, we could probably get out." She looked expectantly at Marco.

"Wasn't me, yoi." He said, with lazy half lidded eyes.

Haruta turned an incredulous look to Ace… Who had fallen asleep and was half overboard. "Very helpful. Wake up, moron!"

Ace continued sleeping. Marco pulled him back from a close encounter with diving into the sea.

"Great," Haruta muttered in annoyance. "Well, whatever he did, Marco, do you think you could do it?"

"I'll try, yoi." Marco replied. "Get him below deck before he falls overboard."

Right on cue, Ace awoke. "I fell asleep?" He yawned.

"Hey, do whatever you did again." Haruta commanded.

An indescribable expression crossed his face. "Fuck off." He growled before storming below deck.

"So, what happened?" Thatch asked. "Why'd Ace leave?"

"How would I know?" Haruta sniffed.

"He's acting strange, alright." Marco affirmed.

"So could you try that thing?" Haruta asked impatiently.

"I'll try." He shifted into his zoan form, his wings flapping mightily as he tried to combat the wind.

And failed.

He shifted back to his human from, with a growing tic over his eye. "I'm not suited to it." He admitted. "I can barely fly at all."

"Yeah, whatever. What are the chances the fire brat would drag his lazy ass up here to help?"

"Why do you hate Ace so much, Haruta?" Thatch questioned.

"Pops wants him to join the crew, but instead of being grateful, he tries to kill him!" Haruta shot back.

"It's true we kidnapped him, you know." Thatch muttered.

"For the last time, GET YOUR ASSES TO WORK AND SAVE YOUR SQUABBLING FOR WHEN WE'RE IN THE CLEAR!" Izou bellowed, fed up with them.

Thatch shot to work, surprised at the sheer volume of the feminine commander.

Haruta let out a half hearted grumble before following.

A few moments later, the wind and rain stopped momentarily again, giving the ship a much needed boost to finally pass through the storm. They were in calm seas again.

Thatch turned just in time to see Ace sheath his sword and disappeared back below deck again.

"Finally." Haruta grumbled. "He could have done that earlier."

"Why do you despise him? He had no obligation to help at all!" Thatch retorted.

The pirates, tired and worn out from their long fight with the storm, turned to listen to the two commanders argument with interest.

"-NOT FAIR TO HIM THAT WE FORCED HIM-"

"HE'S JUST BEING A STUBBORN IDIOT-"

"-NO HE ISN'T, SO WHY DO YOU HATE HIM SO MUCH, HARUTA-"

"HE IS TRYING TO ASSASSINATE POPS, IN CASE YOU FORGOT-"

"-HE HAS HIS REASONS, YOU'RE THE STUBBORN ONE!"

"YEAH RIGHT, HE'S JUST A SORE LOSER WHO LOST TO POPS AND-"

"Don't finish that sentence, yoi."

The two commanders turned to face the first mate.

"Marco-chan, you say who's right." Haruta said, still fuming.

"No yoi." He said. "You're both wrong to argue with each other like that."

Thatch looked down guiltily, but Haruta stayed defiant.

"Marco, he is a stubborn bull headed idiot who lost to pops and simply can't take that!" She said impulsively.

You could hear a pin drop in the silence that followed.

…

There was a slight sound of exhaling.

Everyone turned to face the cause of the sound.

"It's clear enough," he started, "that no one wants me here. So if you could give me Striker back, I'd go on my merry way and never bother you again."

Silence fell again as everyone searched for something to say.

"That's not true," Thatch began. "You-"

"I guess I was kidding myself all this time," Ace said, "like you keep on living through a dream, and you never want to wake up. But you have to, eventually." He mused.

"Ace, pops want you to join the crew and that's what matters." Marco said.

"Hell, it never would have worked out." Ace said simply. "So let me go already, and stop wasting both of our lives." He turned and began walking towards Whitebeard's room.

"Haruta," Thatch began.

"Thatch," Marco said sharply.

"No, Marco, I need to say this." Thatch insisted. "Haruta, haven't you ever realized that every time you open your big mouth when it comes to Ace, there's trouble? We kidnapped him, and expected him to accept us as his family. Last time, you told him that Sabo he couldn't return over a misguided suspicion, this time you mock him for being unable to defeat pops. You don't care about him, you don't care about why he might want to defeat pops. It might be a promise, it might be his dream, something he can't just let go or give up that easily! You refused to accept him as our family member. We all expected that he would accept us without ever doing so ourselves… maybe it's time to let him go and live his own life, the way he wants to." He walked away, heading for his kitchen to find a way to cope, anything.

And he didn't notice the real, genuine tears silently streaming down the short commander's face, who stared at his brother's retreating back before wiping her tears away and practically running to her own room, shoving those in her way to the side.

Marco stared after the two of them, before resisting the urge to pound his head against the wall.

 _What a mess._

* * *

Ace was having a bad day. A really bad day.

It had started out nicely, with a storm and all the Whitebeard pirates too preoccupied to bother him about becoming their 'little brother,' as they put it.

Standing at the helm of the ship, it gave him a sense of freedom, something he hadn't truly felt since he had been on his own ship.

Then the Phoenix had appeared and started to chat, and unwittingly, Ace had began acting friendly towards him! Had offered to them help out! His narcolepsy had saved him from having to really follow through with his offer to help the Phoenix, only for him to wake up and find the annoying short commander trying to order him around.

Slipping back into his old, familiar hostile form, he stomped his way back to his room. Something about the girl infuriated him. Her attitude, her snobby voice, everything!

Ace glared at the wall. He may act like an idiot at times, but he knew when someone didn't like him. The short commander had avoided talking to him like the plague, and Ace knew that she thought him nothing but a brat. An annoying one that acted like a stray dog, biting the hand that fed it. And she had oh-so-conveniently forgot that he had never wanted to join them in the first place.

Like she was any better herself.

He had felt guilty that he was relaxing in his room while everyone else was working, which was definitely a mistake. He had helped them out of the storm, only to hear the annoying voice complaining _again_ , after he had _helped_ them! Then they had started an argument, when she had shown her true colors. He knew the best thing to be done was to ignore it, but the way she said it made his blood boil.

Which led him to where he was now, standing in front of Whitebeard's room awkwardly, trying to make up his mind, tell him he was leaving, demand Striker back and _leave already_.

He couldn't do it. Of course he wanted to… or did he really?

Ace stared at the closed door again, trying to make up his mind.

"Are you going to stand out there until you catch a cold?"

Ace almost flinched in surprise. _Almost._ He was most definitely not scared of the old bastard. He walked inside after another moment's hesitation.

"What would you like, son?" The man asked kindly.

"I am _not_ your son," Ace growled. "And I want to leave, so give me back my ship."

The man sighed deeply before closing his eyes. "Close the door, son."

"I am not your son," Ace repeated, but did as he asked.

"What's bothering you?"  
"Nothing!" Ace growled. "Just let me leave, and I'll never bother you again."

"Is that what you really want, son?"

"Stop calling me your son already! I don't have a father and I don't need one!"

Whitebeard simply looked sad, not angry or anything else Ace wanted him to feel so he can finally get off the god-damn ship.

"Ace," Whitebeard began.

"Just give me my ship back." Ace cut off.

"I cannot, my son." He said calmly.

"Why?"

"The New World is very dangerous for a rookie."

"I am not a rookie!" Ace said defiantly. Seeing the disbelieving look on the captain's face, he added, "Anymore."

The captain stayed silent.

"Then drop me off at the nearest island."

"We have enough supplies to last us for months and have no plans on docking anywhere until we reach the next island under our protection."

Ace resisted the urge to hit his head against the wall. "Which is in…"

"About two months, if we're lucky." Whitebeard added pleasantly.

Ace stared at him. Then promptly fell asleep, again.

* * *

"So, is he really leaving?"

Marco glared at the offending crewmember. "Just because we are not in a storm this very instant does not mean that we are safe." His eye twitched at the hopeful look the crewmember bore…

Perhaps he had been one of the unlucky souls who had accidentally teased/offended Firefist about joining and got sent to the infirmary?

"But is he?" The crewmember pressed further.

"Do you think pops would let him go?" Thatch asked, also looking annoyed.

The crewmembers shoulders slumped in disappointment.

"Even if he wants to leave, he's joining." Thatch said determinedly. "He'll be family, so we should treat him as such."

The crewmember nodded slowly before wandering off.

"Marco, you don't think he's actually leaving, right?" Thatch turned to him.

Marco felt another pounding headache coming. "I don't know, and I'm too busy to care right now."

"Marco-"

Marco took one look at his brother before storming off to his room. He really, really needed a break right now.

* * *

Whitebeard was thinking seriously. For once, he was making no move to touch his beloved tankard of sake, despite the absence of any of his daughters scolding him for drinking too much.

Since when could a captain not enjoy some sake?

But that wasn't the big issue.

He knew there was something in Ace, but he was pushing them away and Whitebeard sensed that the brat was breaking.

He desperately craved a family, he could see it in the boy's eyes, but suspicions and doubts still led him to continued the assassination attempts and stay as far from them as possible.

He was really too young to have such darkness in his eyes.

* * *

 **So that's that! Hope you enjoyed, and thank you for putting up with my bad writing. I'll see you in a while!**


	16. Important!

Hello, everyone. As you might have noticed. This is **not a chapter**.

I apologize, however this story will be going on hiatus. Recently, I can't seem concentrate much on my writing and I don't have any more inspiration to continue. Along with the start of the school approaching, I find it neccesary to inform you that I will not be updating until my writers block has been lifted. I didn't plan on giving up. I hoped that I could write more but I've just ran out of ideas.

Again, I apologize for the disappointment.

THIS IS OFFICIALLY DISCONTINUED, BUT THERE'S A REWRITE. SO DON'T STOP READING NOW AND CLOSE THE TAB.

I expected to be able to continue uploading sometime within a year, however, I decided a better course of action would be to modify the plot and actually plan it all out instead of writing anything on my mind at the moment. Please check out the rewrite, ASL Reborn.

Many elements of the plot is different in the rewrite.

Here's the basic summary: Ace has just been kidnapped by Whitebeard. Things were going well and he was starting to warm up to them when he gets the news that his dead brother may be alive. What does he do? If you're interested, please give it a try. I'd like to think that my writing's improved a lot.

Thank you for reading!


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